Crisis Management Adding to the chaos was the fact that Rockrose was in the midst of relocating its corporate office; everything was boxed and its files were in transit. Three-quarters of the company’s equipment and files were in the old building – which was near the United Nations – and the rest was in the company’s new office at 22nd Street and Park Avenue. In addition, the attacks caused the company’s phone exchange to be knocked out, making communication very difficult.
“While everyone was evacuating, the supers stayed in the buildings,” says T. Elghanayan. “They did things themselves, like take care of the pets [that were left behind]. They shut down the buildings. Initially, it was a real disaster.”
The company put together a team of 10 people from the corporate office that met every morning to discuss the company’s response to the crisis, and to communicate with each other and its residents.
Once the phone service was restored, the company was able to put a message on its voicemail that directed people to its web site for up-to-the-minute information about its properties. The cleanup was a coordinated endeavor among management, the on-site staff and vendors. The company’s goals were to make sure the residents were safe, that the buildings were clean and that essential services were operational.
While T. Elghanayan’s department was in charge of the cleanup efforts, F. Elghanayan lent his building and renovation expertise, as well as his contacts. His department was able to use its cleaning contacts to help the management team, says F. Elghanayan.
“We had to shut down a lot of the systems [clean them out] and start them up again,” explains F. Elghanayan. “We steam cleaned the facades of all the buildings, cleaned and drained every water tank and cleaned the yards and garages; we cleaned everything.” In addition, the company cleaned and tested every apartment to ensure that there were no environmental hazards. Every resident received a certificate stating that their apartment was safe for occupancy.